A long time ago in a boardroom far, far away … director George Lucas is riding high on the unexpected success of Star Wars, the 1977 movie that goes on to launch the blockbuster era. Star Wars isn’t just a box-office hit: it’s a pop culture sensation. At cinemas across the world, queues snake around the block. Star Wars mania is born. Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill are turned from jobbing actors into movie stars overnight, and its creator becomes a very rich man. Oh, how he laughed himself to sleep every evening, realising the studio’s error in granting him sole ownership of merchandise rights. Suckers!